Highlands Fellowship Back to School Sunday: Fighting for the Next Generation Transcript
0:00 Well, hey everybody, and welcome to Highlands Fellowship. It's so good to have each and every one of you across all of our campuses, and we're so excited to be able to be together, and it was a wonderful week. Love Week is always a special time where we get to love on our communities and share the love of Jesus Christ with the people that we come into contact with. It is a special, special time.
0:19 But today is also a special day. Each year we take the time to focus on our kids and on our students as they're growing, as they're developing, and as they're moving into the next phase of life, maybe the next grade or even a new school. But we recognize how big of a deal this is for our kids and our students and also for the parents and families. It can be exciting, but it can be terrifying at the same time.
0:45 And I can relate to this because Megan, my wife, and I, we have four kids, and this year we have one going into college, and then we've got one going into middle school. Our youngest is going into the third grade, and then we have another one who's starting his senior year in high school. We're right in the middle of all of this, and today's message is extremely close to my heart because, as many of you know and as many of you are finding out, time moves a lot faster than we think.
1:15 So across all of our campuses today, kids and students have moved into new classrooms. Students are getting ready to step into new grades at school, and some parents will be dropping their kids off at preschool or kindergarten for the very first time. Others are like me, watching their son or their daughter begin their senior year of high school, wondering, "Where have all the years gone?"
1:40 But Back to School Sunday reminds us that we need to be very, very intentional with the time that we have and the way we invest in the lives of our kids and students. And listen, I know the days can seem long. I know that. But it's true when they say that the years are incredibly short. Before you know it, the little child that you held in your arms is making decisions that will shape the rest of their lives. That's why today matters.
2:10 Today isn't just about another school year. Today is about another opportunity to influence the next generation, because here's what history teaches us: every generation is one generation away from forgetting God. The Bible teaches us in the Book of Judges that there arose another generation that neither knew the Lord nor what He had done for His people. And that didn't happen because God stopped working. It happened because one generation stopped telling the next.
2:47 And so I want to read a portion of Scripture out of Psalms, chapter 78, verses one through four. Psalm 78 says, "O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past — stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children. We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders."
3:32 Church, our assignment isn't simply to attend church. It's to pass on our faith in Jesus Christ to other people. So today, I want to challenge every parent, every grandparent, every teacher, every coach, every small group leader, every volunteer — and honestly, every follower of Jesus Christ — to join in on this, the greatest investment that you will ever make, and let's fight for the next generation.
4:00 And if we're going to fight for them the way that we need to, there are a few things that we're going to have to be willing to do, and the first one is this: we're going to have to see their value. Sometimes we don't see their value, and people will look at children, they'll look at students as if they're some type of interruption. But Jesus taught something completely different.
4:26 So let's read Matthew chapter 19, verses thirteen and fourteen. It says, "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so that He could lay hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering Him. But Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.'" I absolutely love this. The disciples thought that these children were being interruptions, but Jesus saw an opportunity to show them love and care. The disciples saw inconvenience, but Jesus saw value, and He saw importance.
5:10 Notice Jesus didn't simply tolerate the children either. No, He welcomed them. He blessed them. He valued them. And that should shape how we as the church treat children as well. Sometimes people say, "Kids are the future of the church." I think they're actually much more than that. They are part of the church today. Think about it — they do the same things that we do. They worship. They pray. They serve. They share Jesus. They matter right now.
5:45 And I think one of the greatest mistakes adults make is assuming that spiritual maturity has an age requirement on it. It doesn't. God has always used young people. Samuel was young. Josiah became king at the age of eight. David was overlooked because he was young. Mary, who carried Jesus, was likely a teenager. Timothy was young. Think about that little boy with the five loaves and two fish. God loves using people that everyone else overlooks.
6:17 So here at Highlands Fellowship, we invest in kids. It's why we invest in our students. That's why we send kids and students to camp. That's why volunteers matter so much to us. It's because we are not babysitting. We are making disciples. When you realize the value of kids and students, you'll gladly invest in them. You'll gladly invest in their future.
6:49 The second thing that we're called to do is to help shape their faith. We already read Psalm 78, verses one through four, but I want to look at a little bit more of that passage. Psalm 78, verses four through seven says, "We will not hide these truths from our children. We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders. For He issued His laws to Jacob; He gave His instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them, even the children not yet born. And they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting His glorious miracles and obeying His commands."
7:38 This may be one of the clearest mission statements for parents and churches in the Bible. Notice the progression: one generation tells another, and that generation tells another, and then another, because faith was never intended to stop with us. We are to be stewards of what we've been given. We're not owners of it, but we're to handle it well.
8:03 Verse seven says, "So each generation should set its hope anew on God." And the New International Version says, "So that they would put their trust in God." Notice that the goal isn't simply information here, but it's really heart transformation. The goal isn't that our kids know Bible stories, but that they know the God of the Bible. We don't want children who merely know about David, but we want young people who trust the same God that David trusted.
8:40 Parents, the greatest responsibility that you have isn't just providing your children with opportunities. It's pointing your children toward Jesus Christ. Talk to them about sports, and talk to them about their grades, and be involved with activities. All these are wonderful things, but none of them will last forever. But their faith in Christ will.
9:11 And one of the highest responsibilities that we have as followers of Jesus is to teach the Word of God to our children. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses seven through nine, talking about the commands and the teachings of Scripture, says, "Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you're at home and when you're on the road, when you're going to bed and when you're getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
9:36 We're to be talking about this stuff all the time. That's what Scripture teaches. Talk about God when you're sitting around. Talk about Him when you're driving down the road. Talk about Him when you're going to bed and when you're getting up in the morning, because faith isn't just taught in the church. It's lived at home.
9:57 And authenticity really matters, because children rarely become what we tell them, but they usually become what they see. They need to catch us praying. They need to catch us reading our Bibles. They need to catch us serving without telling everybody else about it, forgiving others just the way that Jesus forgave us, and repenting of our sin and admitting when we've wronged other people. They need to catch us worshiping God with all of our hearts — not perfectly, but genuinely. Kids and students don't need perfect parents. They need parents with an authentic faith.
10:37 But here's something that we need to understand as the church: this responsibility doesn't belong only to parents. We need teachers. We need coaches. We need businessmen and women, construction workers, accountants, those who are working in the service industry, politicians. We need followers of Jesus who have an authentic faith in every area of life to invest in and mentor young people so that they will know that they are not alone.
11:07 The third thing is this: we've got to stand with them. Young people have to know that we are standing with them. If there's something that I've learned in my time here on this earth, it's that we are all going to face opposition at some point in our lives. And there's a story of a man named Nehemiah in the Bible, and he was somebody who faced opposition. The walls of his city had been destroyed. People were discouraged. The enemy had surrounded them, but Nehemiah stood up, and this is what he said in Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 14. He said, "Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."
11:48 Notice he didn't say to panic. He didn't say to complain. He didn't say to retreat. He said, "Remember God. Fight for your families." And church, that's still our calling today. Now, we fight differently than the world fights. We fight with prayer. We fight with the truth of God's Word. We fight with love. We fight with consistency. We fight by showing up. We fight by serving others with love. We fight by volunteering and mentoring. We fight by giving faithfully. We fight by encouraging others.
12:27 I mean, every Sunday, we have volunteers who rock babies and pray for them, who teach third graders, who lead small groups, who play games with middle school students, who listen to teenagers who are struggling, so that every person who comes to this church can hear the Word of God presented to them in a way that they can understand it, because they are fighting for the next generation. Parents, you are not alone. You are not fighting alone. We are making disciples together. We believe that one conversation, one invitation, one prayer can actually redirect someone's eternity.
13:24 So we see their value, we shape their faith, we stand with them, and we've got to believe in their potential. We have a wonderful example of this in the New Testament. The apostle Paul was a spiritual father to a young man by the name of Timothy, and Timothy was young, he was inexperienced, and he probably wondered if anybody would ever take him seriously. So Paul writes these words to him in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 12: "Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity."
14:12 I love that Paul doesn't tell Timothy, "Wait your turn." He doesn't say, "Someday when you're older, God will use you." No, he tells him to lead now. That's because God has never been limited by somebody's age. All throughout Scripture, God consistently uses young people to accomplish incredible things. David was just a shepherd boy when God chose him. Josiah was only eight years old when he became king. Mary was likely a teenager when God chose her to carry the Savior of the world. The little boy who brought the five loaves and two fish probably had no idea that Jesus would use his lunch to feed thousands of people.
14:45 God doesn't just see young people for who they are today. He sees them also for who they can become, and I believe that with all my heart. I believe that students can influence schools. I believe that athletes can influence teams. I believe that children can influence their families. I believe that God can use a middle school student to invite a friend to church who ends up hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and giving their heart and life over to Him. I believe that a high school student can start a Bible study at their school, and revival can break out. I believe that a child can go home from HF Kids, and they can remind their parents to pray before dinner and read their Bible together, and it will change the course of their family. Never underestimate what God can do through one young person who is fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.
15:44 That's why we don't see kids and students here as the church of tomorrow. We believe they are an important part of the church today, and we aren't simply trying to entertain them until they grow up. No, we're helping them to experience life with Jesus, to grow in their faith, and to become the men and women that God has created them to be. That's why we invest so much in HF Kids. That's why we invest so much in HFS. That's why we have incredible volunteers who faithfully show up week after week after week. That's why we go to camps. That's why we have small groups. That's why we do retreats and provide service opportunities. We're not just filling a calendar. We are investing in lives that have eternal value.
16:39 So what I want you to do is hear from some of the incredible leaders who have the privilege of serving our children and our students every single week. And as you watch this video, I want you to listen for their heart. Listen to what they're passionate about, and you'll quickly discover that they aren't just leading programs, but they are raising the next generation of kids and students who are going to follow after Jesus Christ. So let's watch this video together.
23:37 As I watched that video, it just made me wonder: who is sitting in HF Kids today? Who is sitting in HFS in our students? Is it the next missionary? Is it the next pastor? The next worship leader? The next godly teacher? The next business leader who honors Christ? The next faithful mom or dad who changes the future of their family? We don't know. That's why every child and every student matters to us.
24:20 One day, our kids will be leading. They'll be teaching, serving, giving, raising families, changing communities. And the question really isn't whether they'll influence the world. I know that they will. But the question is, how will they influence the world? And the answer to that question depends so much on who influences them first.
24:49 So church, let's be that influence. Let's refuse to hand the next generation over to culture without giving them the hope of Jesus Christ. Let's fight for them. Let's pray for them. Let's invest in them. Let's believe in them, because every child matters to Jesus. Every student has purpose. Every family needs encouragement, and every generation needs to hear about the wonderful works of God and about His amazing grace.
25:28 So in just a minute, we'll invite all of our kids and students into our gatherings at each of our locations, and we're going to pray for them and encourage them as they begin the new school year. But I'm going to pray with you first. But here's something that I want you to understand before I do. I believe the greatest investment that we can make isn't simply preparing our kids for school, but preparing them for life — but most importantly and ultimately, preparing them for eternity.
26:00 Would you pray with me today? God, we thank you so much for how you work in our lives and in our hearts. We thank you for the purpose that you've given to us as a church to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those that we come into contact with. And as you teach us in your Word, we are to share the stories about your wonderful works, about your amazing grace, about your glory with each generation that continues to come. And we cannot forget to do this. We must, as followers of Jesus Christ, share these things with those who are coming after us. We can't forget your goodness. We can't forget your grace. But we're one generation away from forgetting who you are if we fail to invest in young people.
27:02 So God, please impress upon our hearts to continue to pour into them each and every day, to be consistent, to show up regularly with an authentic faith that trusts in the one true God who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to live a perfect life so that we could be saved from our sins and live in freedom and in relationship with our good God and Father. God, we are thankful for your Word, thankful for how you encourage us and how you continue to work in our lives. We've been challenged today as a church to do what you've called us to do in Scripture, and I believe with all my heart that if we see the value that each child and each student has, we will gladly be willing to invest in their lives. God, we love you. We praise you. It's in the name of Jesus we pray, and everybody said, "Amen."